SAISD knows what it wants in a new superintendent

San Antonio Independent School District trustees unanimously approved a superintendent “profile” this week to formally open up the district's search to applicants nationwide and allow “nontraditional” candidates to be considered for the job.

The three-page profile calls for someone who can “lead the transformation of SAISD into a national urban school district.” The district will post it on recruiting websites, said Robert Stockwell of PROACT, its search consultant. He expects it to draw more than 100 candidates.

SAISD board president Ed Garza said he hoped to interview candidates by mid-December and said the trustees could settle on a new leader by January. The deadline to apply is Dec. 10.

The superintendent profile, put together by PROACT after more than a dozen meetings with community and school groups, seeks candidates with a track record of improving academic success, are preferably bilingual and can help the district compete with expanding charter schools.

“We want to cast the net wide and look at their qualifications,” Garza said of potential candidates who didn't rise through the ranks of a public school system. “I think it's essentially giving the search firm the discretion to identify what nontraditional means.”

It's still uncommon for school districts to hire superintendents that haven't first been teachers and principals, but it's becoming less rare, Suzanne Marchman, spokeswoman for the Texas Association of School Administrators, said Wednesday. In some school districts, trustees have looked to former business leaders to reform underperforming schools.

“With IDEA coming to San Antonio, there's a possibility that SAISD won't even exist on the East Side,” and trustees should act with urgency, said Steve Lechelop, a member of the district's bond oversight committee.

The profile also stresses the need for a transparent leader who “inspires trust, listens to stakeholders, demonstrates honesty and fairness, and is clearly guided by a moral compass of observable core beliefs.”

The issue of community trust and district transparency came up at several community meetings.

“The main thing is someone who can build community relationships and help the district regain some of the public trust that we've lost,” said trustee James Howard. “Just someone who can change the image of the district.”

Without formal advertising, more than 70 applicants have shown interest in the job, which is “not unusual for a city of San Antonio's size,” Stockwell said.

SAISD employees can apply, but Garza said he doubted many had the qualifications because “we had a difficult time in our interim search,” finding an internal candidate.

Still undecided is how open to public scrutiny the interviewees will be. Garza said Wednesday that the decision would be made after the search firm produced a “short list” of candidates.

The district's former superintendent, Robert Durón, stepped down in February, and interim superintendent Sylvester Perez was named in March. Perez has said he will not seek the permanent superintendent position.